Around these parts, sun-dried fruit is pretty much not an option so we kicked off food preservation season by firing up the oven. First to go in were the Italian plums, cracked in half and pitted, so pretty you might think life was a cooking show. Twelve hours later they’d shriveled down but still exuded thick juices. A night’s rest and they were chewy and tangy with plum essence, the skins appealingly crackly. Whether they’re shelf stable remains to be seen. They may not last long enough to find out.
Meantime I jury-rigged a third oven rack to dry a few Glacier tomatoes, a cold weather species that delivers brilliant color but extremely average taste for garden tomatoes. I tossed thick slices with olive oil and sea salt and oven dried for nearly as long as the plums. The tomatoes came out tart and somewhat overdone, a concept that needs tweaking for next time. In any case we’ll keep this batch around for use on pizza — such sacrifice in the name of gastronomic advancement.
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October 3, 2008 at 7:47 am
poppyandsally
Audrey, we used to dry our plums too and then we’d stash them in the freezer where they didn’t take up much space, but remained ‘stable’ until we were ready. They do look gorgeous in your photo, and so edible. Enjoy! Sally
October 5, 2008 at 12:29 am
putting plums by « Eat Local Northwest
[…] out a previous post on dried plums for another superb and simple way to preserve these […]
October 6, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Katrina
These do look gorgeous. They wouldn’t last long our house either. Thanks for all the plum recipes. The plum jam with cardamon sounds so impressive.
April 20, 2009 at 11:43 am
what i’m eating « Eat Local Northwest
[…] *Dried plums. Last fall I halved and oven-dried several crates of plums on the verge of rotting. Why oh why didn’t I make more? They’re a wonderfully tasty snack, and bonus, they counter the effects of all that progesterone, which can stop up your plumbing. […]